There have been a lot of dog movies in recent months, including “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”, “Bolt” , “Marley and Me” and “Hotel For Dogs”, which is just out on video.
The movie is about a brother and sister who are living with foster-parents in a new city. When their dog runs away they go looking for him and find him in an old, abandoned hotel, where a few other dogs are living.
The kids decide to round-up all of the other stray dogs in the neighborhood and bring them to the hotel so that they won’t be taken away to the pound. But they find-out that it’s not easy running a hotel for dogs.
Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin play the two kids. Academy Award Winner Don Cheadle, Lisa Kudrow (from Friends) and Kevin Dillion (from Entourage) are also in the cast.
The acting is good, especially Roberts and Cheadle and some of the inventions the kids use to feed and take care of the dogs are pretty creative. But, the movie isn’t very funny and at times it’s pretty mean, especially scenes involving the foster-parents.
The plot is very predictable and there’s nothing really special about any of the dogs.
“Hotel For Dogs” is rated PG. It’s safe for everyone. Unlike “Marley and Me”, no one will end up in tears at the end.
On “The Official Kid Critic Report Card“, “Hotel For Dogs” get a C.
It’s not a DOG…but it’s not that great either.
Lights Camera Jackson (a.k.a. Jackson Murphy) began his career as a film critic/entertainment reporter in 2006 at the age of 7. Jackson has written nearly 1,000 reviews of new releases. All together he has seen more than 1,500 films. In 2010, Jackson became the youngest person to win a NY Emmy Award, for his on-air movie reviews on Time Warner TV station, Capital News 9.